Historic North Bend Sway Swing Bridge to close due to lack of funds
Historic North Bend Sway Swing Bridge to close due to lack of funds
The historic North Bend Sway Swing Bridge, a vital link for shipments of livestock, timber, and gemstones since 1914, is set to close due to financial constraints. The Coos Bay Rail Line announced the closure following a recent incident where a power line beneath the bridge was struck by a vessel, causing damage that the rail line cannot afford to repair.
Brian Early, General Manager of the Coos Bay Rail Line, said, "We're now at a point where the port quite honestly has run out of money to pour into the bridge, so we're going to discontinue its use probably before the end of the month."
The closure will impact 10 local customers who will need to rely on truck deliveries, potentially reducing inventory for buyers. "We'd like to think that we're going to keep the volume up but realistically we'll probably lose a little," Early said.
Originally owned by the Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad, the bridge was saved from closure in 2007 by the Port of Coos Bay. Matt Friesen, Director of External Affairs for the port, emphasized the bridge's significance. "The bridge is a unique asset to the region, it's historic, it's been here for over a hundred years, it's a legacy piece of infrastructure and I think the community is proud having a railroad come through here," Friesen said.
Despite the closure, there are no plans to dismantle the bridge. "We want to maintain the bridge this is again a temporary situation that we're dealing with, there's unanticipated expenses that continue to pile up that we can't continue to manage with the resources we have right now," Friesen said.
The Port of Coos Bay is exploring federal and state funding options to address the financial challenges. "Well we're continuing to look at investments for both federal and state funding options so there's a variety of different kinds of packages that we're hoping to be able to obtain funding for but it's a complicated kind of mix and match that we have to play with funding opportunities, we're exploring everything that we can," Friesen said.
The bridge is expected to close next week, with maintenance efforts ongoing to preserve its condition.
